Sponsored Messages in Group Chats

Few days ago Telegram's sponsored messages were spotted at the bottom of some large English-speaking group chats.

Particularly, such ads were spotted in BotList chat. Right now the sponsored message is disabled and you can't see it anymore.

It's uncertain if it's either a bug or a limited testing of new features.

We at Telegram Info speculate that the messenger may allow group chat owners to place ads in their chats so they can monetize them.

Download⁠ Manager, Live Streaming With Other Apps, New Attachment Menu

Telegram for Android, iOS, macOS and Unigram has been updated to version 8.6, Telegram Desktop — to version 3.6.

Download Manager
• The Search screen has a new Downloads tab where you can see all currently and recently downloaded media and files (Desktop: Settings > Advanced > Downloads).
• While files are actively downloading, a new icon will now appear in the Search bar or in the app header.
• In the Downloads menu, you can pause and restart downloads, change priority, or quickly go to a dialog where a specific file from the list has been sent.

Live Streaming With Other Apps
• You can broadcast from streaming tools like OBS Studio and XSplit Broadcaster.
• Tools allow you to add overlays and multi-screen layouts with ease, turning any Telegram channel into a professional TV Station.
• To stream from these tools, start a new Video Chat in your group or a new Live Stream in your channel, tap the «Start With» button and enter the information found there into your streaming tool.
• Your viewers will need to update their apps to the latest version to watch your stream.

New Attachment Menu
• When sending multiple photos or videos, tap Selected at the top of the panel to preview how the album will look in the chat when it’s sent — and rearrange or remove selected media.
• The attachment menu has been fully redesigned on iOS.
• The updated Files tab shows recently sent files and lets you search for them by name.

Phone Number Links
• This update allows you to share a direct t.me link to your phone number that instantly opens a chat with you.
• The link will only work if your privacy settings let others find you by your phone number.
• The format for these links is t.me/+123456789, with the full phone number in international format.

And More
• Updated design for t.me pages.
• New authorization interface with smooth animations (Telegram for Android and macOS).
• New on-screen animations for logging in via QR code (Telegram for macOS).
• Semi-Transparent Interface on Android for Night Theme.
• Open another account in a new window (Telegram for macOS).

Read all about this update on the Telegram blog:
https://telegram.org/blog/downloads-attachments-streaming

Android: Google Play, APK from official website or verified channel.
iOS: App Store.
Telegram Desktop: with official website or GitHub.
Telegram for macOS: from App Store or verified channel.
Unigram for Windows 10: Microsoft Store | Download | Installation help

#update #Android #iOS #Desktop #macOS #Unigram

Tightened privacy for People Nearby

People Nearby allows you to see nearest users with the feature turned on and approximate distances to them.

To protect from the feature to be exploited for detecting somebody's precise location, the distance is being distorted.

Earlier, the distortion was within 100 meters and rounding was done up to hundreds. Since February 2022, it is distorted within 700 meters and then rounded to 500 meters.

Pavel Durov suggests that Elon Musk sign up for Telegram

In his Twitter account, Pavel Durov suggested that Elon Musk register on Telegram and reserved the @elona channel address for him.

Earlier, Ramzan Kadyrov called Musk Ilona. Musk supported the joke and renamed himself Elona Musk on Twitter.

Telegram Desktop has been updated to version 3.6.1

What's new:
— Change volume for RTMP stream from the context menu.
— Set a profile photo from your camera.
— Improve RTMP stream full screen mode.
— Improve edit account section design.
— A new item in the experimental settings, to change the icons in the settings.
— Fix switching personal account or channel in video chats.
— Fix pinning chats in folders with 100 chats.
— Fix YouTube timestamp links after 10 hours.

Download: with official website or GitHub.

#update #desktop

The results of the real-time face correction module contest have been announced

The task of the March competition was to create a cross-platform C++ module for face correction and embed it in a demo app on iOS or Android that would convert video from the front camera in real-time.

The prize fund of $42,500 was shared by 20 contestants.

As most of the entrants chose to use existing third-party solutions instead of presenting a new approach to the competition, and the judges noticed many algorithm and application flaws in the submissions themselves, no developer came out on top in the competition.

Detailed information about the winners, their awards and works can be seen on the official Telegram contest channel.

#contest

Blocking Telegram in Brazil

Brazil's Supreme Court judge has ruled to block Telegram in the country.

The messenger team ignored attempts by Brazil's Higher Electoral Court (TSE) to contact them. The judge ordered all Internet providers to block the work of Telegram. They face a fine of 100,000 reals ($20,000) for failure to comply with the court's decision.

Journalists note that the TSE chairman suspects the use of Telegram for spreading misinformation.

Read all the news about the blocking of Telegram in Brazil at @tginfobr.

oantagonista.uol.com.br/brasil/urgente-moraes-manda-bloquear-telegram

#Brazil #locks

Pavel Durov apologized to the Supreme Court of Brazil and asked to postpone the blocking of the messenger

«It seems that we had an issue with emails going between our telegram.org corporate addresses and the Brazilian Supreme Court. As a result of this miscommunication, the Court ruled to ban Telegram for being unresponsive.

On behalf of our team, I apologize to the Brazilian Supreme Court for our negligence. We definitely could have done a better job.

We complied with an earlier court decision in late February and responded with a suggestion to send future takedown requests to a dedicated email address. Unfortunately, our response must have been lost, because the Court used the old general-purpose email address in further attempts to reach us. As a result, we missed its decision in early March that contained a follow-up takedown request. Luckily, we have now found and processed it, delivering another report to the Court today.

Because tens of millions of Brazilians rely on Telegram to communicate with family, friends and colleagues, I ask the Court to consider delaying its ruling for a few days at its discretion to allow us to remedy the situation by appointing a representative in Brazil and setting up a framework to react to future pressing issues like this in an expedited manner.

The last 3 weeks have been unprecedented for the world and for Telegram. Our content moderation team was flooded with requests from multiple parties. However, I am certain that once a reliable channel of communication is established, we'll be able to efficiently process takedown requests for public channels that are illegal in Brazil».

Brazil has withdrawn the decision to block Telegram

The head of the Supreme Court of Brazil, Alexander de Moraes, canceled an earlier signed decision to block the Telegram messenger in the country.

Moraes explained that the administration of the messenger fulfills the conditions set for Telegram to continue working in Brazil. In this regard, the lock is set.

We are looking for volunteers from Brazil who will help us better navigate the situation around Telegram in the country. Write to @infowritebot.

#Brazil

Lifting the lockdown in Brazil: everything you need to know

On March 18, 2022, a Brazilian Supreme Court judge ruled to block Telegram in the country. That same night, Pavel Durov apologized to the court and asked to delay the ban of the messenger. Three days later, Brazil withdrew its decision to ban Telegram. Let's try to understand the current situation.

Immediately after first messages about the upcoming ban of Telegram in Brazil appeared, the messenger team sent an e-mail to the Brazilian court.

The letter states:
— Telegram blocked 14 channels at the request of the Brazilian court.
— Telegram blocked 19 channels containing similar information.
— In February 2022, Telegram blocked 3 more channels at the request of the court.
— Telegram's global search no longer returns results when searching for "allan dos santos" or similar terms.
— None of these Telegram channels received any monetization.
— The creators of the channels @allandossantos, @tercalivre and @artigo220 were accounts with addresses: @allansantosbr and @allandsantos (these usernames were sent in the block request).

What Telegram has promised to do in the future:
— ToS update.
— New features for reporting fake news.
— Permanent bans of channel owners for spreading misinformation.

The reason for restricting access to channels and individual posts was harsh criticism of the actions of the Supreme Court of Brazil.

If Telegram will ever receive a court order confirming you are suspected of terrorism, if the arguments of the court will be satisfying Telegram's requirements, it may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant intelligence agencies.

So far, there have been no such cases. If such a case occurs, information about this will be published on the @transparency channel.

#Brazil #locks

Telegram Connectivity Issues

Users all over the world were facing connectivity issues with Telegram. Most of the complaints come from Russia and CIS countries.

Does Telegram work for you? Send your reports to our chat: @tginfochaten

The government of Udmurtia (federal subject of Russia) made an appeal to Pavel Durov

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic asked to reduce the minimum cost of advertising on the official advertising platform Telegram Ads, as well as to add the ruble as a currency with which payments can be made.

In his opinion, an advance payment of €2,000,000 euros "makes it impossible for most entrepreneurs to access this service."

German authorities notified Telegram of cases launched against the company

German authorities have notified Telegram of two cases that were launched against it. The company is facing fines of 55 million euros for violating the law on countering incitement to hatred.

Legislation on countering incitement to hatred and harassment on social networks implies that the messenger company must establish an "effective and transparent" mechanism to respond to complaints about illegal content, as well as appoint a representative in the country with whom German agencies could maintain contact.

Earlier, the country's interior minister stressed that the German government had agreed with Telegram to cooperate further and to continue to exchange views. Constructive talks resulted in 64 groups being banned for anti-Semitism and incitement to hatred.

Our news in German: @tginfoger

#Germany

Telegram killed libtgvoip and calling backward compatibility

On February 6, a commit with "delete legacy" in description was published in the official tgcalls repository. This means that for two months now, users of the old apps have not been able to reach those using the newest versions of Telegram.

The reason for this action is unknown.

UPD: libtgvoip call issues was server-side and now fixed.

· Telegram for Android - Calls are client side broken.
· Telegram for iOS and macOS, as well as Telegram Desktop - calls work normally.

Telegram becomes part of Brazil's "Fake News Program"

Following recent discussions, the parties have agreed to take steps to counter disinformation - within the resources and capabilities that the partner, Telegram, provides to carry out these actions. The document is signed free of charge, without any financial obligations or transfer of resources between Telegram and TSE.

According to the document, Telegram also undertakes to keep and necessary secrecy regarding the information to which the company has access within the TSE.

During the negotiations, it was about the account of Allan dos Santos, one of the closest associates of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. He is a suspect in the case of spreading fakes and attacking judges.

Meta, TikTok, and YouTube are among the signatories. The program was launched in August 2019 as a way to prepare for the 2020 elections.

Read all the news about Telegram in Brazil at @tginfobr.

cnnbrasil.com.br/politica/telegram-assina-adesao-programa-de-enfrentamento-a-desinformacao-do-tse/

Web bots in Telegram

In the strings of the Beta version of Telegram for macOS, a mention of web bots appeared.

Judging by the available information, such bots support WebView buttons, which will allow you to interact with services in a new way: the bot and its buttons will be displayed directly in the menu by pressing a paperclip.

#macOS #webbots

Sneak Peek at Telegram Web Bots
⁠⁠⁠
Telegram started to test web bots, which are similar to inline bots, but still have some key differences:

— Pressing a bot button will open a third-party website inside Telegram.
— The website receives some key colors of your theme so it can adapt to look like a part of the app.
— The web bot can be pinned to the Attachments menu. When you select it from there, Telegram passes your current chat info to the website.
— Avatars are passed into the website as hotlinks, so they can be easily injected.
— Website can pass up to 4096 bytes of data to the bot, which is a record: inline buttons can carry up to 64 bytes of payload.
— Web bots can send messages of any attachment type available to inline bots on behalf of the user with a "via @bot" sign.
— Developers will have to develop the communication API between the bot and the website on their own.

#webbots

Save replies for forwarded messages

In the upcoming Telegram update, when sending several messages at the same time, internal replays will be saved. This means that in the forwarded messages you will be able to see the entire message chain, just like in the original correspondence.

Note that replays in messages sent via the Beta version of the macOS client can already be seen on all current clients.

#macOS

‍Explaining the Web bots

After our Web Bots Sneak Peek, readers got many questions left.

In the new material, we explain exactly how Web bots work, how they differ from the gaming platform, what is controversial about them and what kind of bots can you expect in the future.

Read: tginfo.me/explaining-web-bots-en